


What choice do we have?

by GrayRivers, smarmy_one



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam is not dead, Allura and Lance never got together, Allura is the character death, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blue Paladin Matt Holt, F/M, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Life after the war, M/M, Made some changes in the timeline, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, plance kid - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:06:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22852966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrayRivers/pseuds/GrayRivers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/smarmy_one/pseuds/smarmy_one
Summary: Life is starting to get better for all the paladins after the war. While the memories and scares of war never leaves, they're able to cope. 7 years after the war they have jobs and normal lives again, until the universe once again calls them to take up their weapons.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith & Lance (Voltron), Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 24
Kudos: 22





	1. The meeting

**Author's Note:**

> In this voltron fic Allura dies as in canon, but I have changed some of the plotlines from the last few seasons, it will make sense later in the fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated 18th of July 2020: This chapter has now been beta read by smarmy_one, thank you so much!

“Lance! Hurry up or we’re leaving you behind!”

“I’m coming! Chill out!” he yelled back as he fastened the last button on his uniform jacket and ran down the stairs. Pidge was already halfway through the door with their 3-year-old daughter on her hips. 

He grabbed both their work cases, as well as the suit-bag containing Pidge’s uniform on his way out. Pidge ~~has~~ already put their daughter in her seat by the time he locked the door and moved towards the car. He hurried to put their things in the back, and then jumped into the car. Pidge was

already backing out of their driveway by the time he has fastened his seatbelt.

“In a hurry?” he joked as he looked at his wife, who only sent him a glare before she focused on the road again. He laughed before he turned his body around to meet their daughters eyes.

“I think mommy woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, kiddo” He said as he winked at her.

Estrella laughed with him while Pidge rolled her eyes. 

“Remember that tía Rachel is picking you up from daycare today, Ella?”

“Yeah, Mommy and Papa are going to a meeting!” she answered.

“That’s right, we will pick you up on our way home, but you will probably be asleep then.”

\---

Their mornings have become a weird sort of routine. They’re always a few minutes late because of Lance, and Pidge is always grumpy because of it. 

They drive together to work, and since Ella’s daycare is in the same building, they walk there together too. Other than that they usually don’t see each other during the workdays, unless they get lunch at the same time, and if Pidge actually remembers to go to lunch. He can’t help but smile as he watches Pidge’s back as she walks to the science ward of the Garrison. Even after everything, the war, the aftermath, all they went through, she still ended up exactly where she always was meant to, a top scientist at the best science department in the world, probably one of the best in the entire universe even.

Most days he can’t even believe how she managed to fit him into this life of hers, but all those doubts disappear when he catches how she looks at their daughter when she talks one million words a minute, or when she

solves a new puzzle, or when she smiles at either one of them. Their lives are good, better than they ever dared hope for.

Of course, not everything is good, not everything is okay even. There are still days where she won’t get out of bed no matter how much he bribes, begs, or tries to force her to. There are days where his leg hurts so much that all he can do is take the strongest pain killers and fake his smile through the day. There are days where Pidge will lose herself in a project and forget all about the world

around her. There are days where he never leaves the training ground after class, and instead he stays and trains for hours until everything hurts. Some nights they wake up because one of them is having a nightmare, some nights he doesn’t sleep at all.

After Ella it’s been better; he’s not sure if it is because they’ve become better at faking it, or if she makes it easier. Probably a combination of both. Still, even their daughter can’t erase the wounds and memories from the war completely, so some days their families have to step in. Without the Holts, or his own family, they never would have made it as parents.

\---

He leaves for his office to get ready for his first class with a nervous energy rubbing in the back of his mind. Pidge and he haven’t talked about it, but ever since they got the message about the meeting yesterday, they’ve been worried.

All the Paladins work at or in close proximity to the Garrison, so they meet each other often, both in casual and work related settings. Still something felt off about this meeting, and Lance had learned to trust his instincts long ago.

His workday goes as normal, teaching the gadgets at the Garrison is a job he’s grown to love, today only two people ended up at the hospital wing, and even though one of them was him he will count it as a good day.

He snuck a glance at his watch as he cleaned up his desk for the day. A few minutes until the meeting was to begin, he hurried to finish and then left for the Paladins lounge. Outside the door he took a deep breath before he opened it and stepped in.

“Sorry I’m late, I had to go to the hospital wing at the end of the day, because someone mixed their very dangerous projects together with the training equipment,” He said as he looked pointedly at Pidge and Hunk. 

They of course only halted their conversation and looked at him, not even a hint of guilt to be read on their faces before they ignored him again to go back to their conversation. 

The meeting hadn’t started yet, and Lance let his eyes wander over the room. 

Hunk and Pidge sit at their designated seats, while Shiro and Coran are deep in discussions at the end of the table, neither of them are seated. Keith hovers by his chair while he’s talking to Matt. 

Lance walked to them and took his seat.

“So, any idea why we’re here?” He asks them casually. 

Both shake their heads. While Matt looks like he is sincere, Keith has a contemplating look. Keith lifts one eyebrow when he looks at Lance.

“All right! Since everyone is here, please take your seats so this meeting can begin,” Shiro’s voice stopped all conversation and everyone went for their seats. 

Keith sat at the head of the table, with Lance at his right and Pidge at his left. On Pidge’s left ~~there~~ was Hunk. At the other end of the table Shiro, Coran and Matt sat down. The seat at Lance’s right was as painfully empty as it has been for over 7 years.

“So, I’m sure you all are wondering why I called this meeting, and since there is no easy way of saying it, I’m just going to do it. The universe needs Voltron again,” Shiro says as he looks at every one of them.

Lance feels the air leave his lungs as his brain stops working. At the other side of the table from him he sees both Pidge and Hunk’s faces go white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the first chapter! Please comment about what you thought!  
> Also english is my second language, and this fic isn't betaed so please let me know if there is any mistakes in the writing.


	2. The Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Smarmy_one for Beta reading this chapter!

It took a few minutes to get the room into order again, everyone talking at the same time, and not listening to each other.

“What exactly is happening?” Keith asked.

“We don’t have any details, but planets and systems in the outskirts of the universe are disappearing.”

“Disappearing how?” Hunk said as he looked nervously at Shiro and Coran.

“No radio signal, no tracking, they don’t show up on any scanners. The only thing left is an unidentified energy,” Coran answered.

“It’s spreading fast, and we don’t know what’s causing it in the first place. That’s why we’re mobilising our forces again, both the Atlas and Voltron will join together with the coalition to find out what this is, and stop it,” Shiro said, looking at each one of them while speaking.

“So, the MFE pilots will join as well?”

“Yes, however they will be stationed at the Atlas at all times, except for battle. Voltron on the other hand will have their home base at the Atlas, but work more as a guerrilla team. You won’t be restrained to the orders of the Atlas. In other words, the five of you have to make plans and

decisions together.”

“Five of us? But Shiro… we only have four paladins…” Hunks eyes fell on the empty chair on Lance’s right. “Unless you’re..?”

“Shiro can’t fly the black lion anymore, so we’ll stick with Keith as the black paladin,” Lance said, speaking for the first time since the meeting started. “Matt will be the next blue paladin, right?” He asked

“Yes.”

“Wait a minute! How do you know that? Since when did I become a paladin?” 

“Right now. Congrats. Shiro, are you asking us if we want to be paladins again or are you telling us?” Lance stared at the man that for so many years was his idol, and then his leader.

“I can’t force you to do anything, but the universe needs Voltron, and we don’t have any other paladins. I know that I’m asking a lot of you, especially of Pidge and Lance, but I have no other choice.”

“You’re telling us to leave our daughter behind, to join another war that can kill us?” Pidge asked.

“I’m sorry, but yes that’s true.” Shiro looked exhausted already. “Take off is in 15 days.”

\---

Lance and Pidge didn’t speak much on their way home. They picked up Ella and thanked Rachel for the help before going straight home. After putting Ella in her own bed, Lance went to the small balcony of their house to join Pidge, who was sitting in her chair with a blanket around her and staring at the stars.

“I really thought we were done, you know, that we could live our lives again.” She whispered without looking at him.

“Yeah, me too” was all he answered.

They spent a few hours out there, just looking at the stars without talking.

“Come on Pidge, we have to go to bed, tomorrow morning we have to tell our families.”

“Yeah..” she absent mindedly took his hand and followed him to their bedroom. They didn’t sleep much that night either, just silently cried as they held each other.


	3. So... We're leaving again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Pidge give their families the news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by Smarmy_one! :D

The next day Lance left the Garrison together with Veronica around lunch time. They decided to tell their family together, when the children were at school and daycare. 

“You ready?” Veronica asked as she parked in front of their parent’s house, knowing that all their siblings were already  waiting inside.

“Not at all, but waiting isn’t going to make this easier” Lance answered as he opened the door and stepped out of the car. 

They walked to the door together and  rang the doorbell.

“It’s open!” Rachel yelled from inside.

\---

The McClains were gathered around the dinner table, and it spoke volumes that nobody spoke.

With a family as big as theirs it was never quiet, except for when two of their family members tell them that they’re leaving earth to join another intergalactic war it seems.

“You’re leaving, both of you?” Marco  was the first one to speak.

“ Yeah , in two weeks” Veronica answered. 

Lance stayed mostly silent as he looked at each one of

his family members. Last time he left without saying anything, and honestly he didn’t know what was worse, letting his family believe he was dead for years, or facing them when telling him that he will leave again, and he might not return.

“Why? You’ve already fought a war, can’t somebody else do it now?” Papá wasn’t usually the angry type, but now he was gripping the table so hard that his knuckles turned white.

“There isn’t anyone else to fly the red lion, and Ronnie is the best strategist and pilot in the new MFE squad. Even if we could say no, we wouldn’t be able to sit here and stare at the sky just waiting for the universe to disappear ” Lance answered.

“What about Ella? Is Katie leaving with you as well?”  Mamás voice was shaking as she looked at her youngest son, and oldest daughter, both so ready to throw away their lives again for the better good.

“ Well… about that...”

\---

With Pidge The Holts decided to meet up for lunch in  Sam’s office, seeing as all four of them worked at the Garrison  there was no need to go home to meet up.

“Matt, Katie, what’s going on?” Colleen asked when she noticed her children glaring holes in each other.

Pidge gave up first by sighing and looking at their parents. 

“We’re leaving earth, both the Atlas and Voltron, and Matt is the new blue paladin. Oh yeah, we’re leaving in 14 days, is it possible that

you two  could help looking after Ella while we’re gone? Lance is asking the McClains as well, if nobody can then we’ll ask  Hunk’s family.”

“Slow down Katie, give us a moment to process this,” Sam broke  into her rambling.

“ And of course we will look after Ella, but you two better call, often, and you’re not allowed to disappear up there. You hear me?”  Colleen said.

“Yes ma’am,” Matt and Pidge said at the same time.

\---

Knowing that the next two weeks would be spent preparing for the launch, Pidge spent the rest of the workday getting her office and lab in order and packed down. An hour or so before she was to meet up with Lance and pick up Ella she got a text.

Lance:

«We’re invited to dinner with the fam tomorrow at 6, your parents and Matt included, mandatory attendance. I mean it, mamá will hunt down whoever doesn’t show up and glue them to the dinner table…»

  
  


Pidge snorted as she read the message and quickly took a screenshot that she sent to her parents and brother. There was no doubt in her mind that her mother-in-law would follow through with her threat. She put away her phone and continued to clean up her desk.

She must have lost herself in the work again as she didn’t notice the time went by, and suddenly she was startled when a pair of arms embraced her from behind.

“ Work is over, let’s pick up our star and go home” he whispered into her  hair .

“Lance!” She jumped from her chair and hit her head in his chin in the progress. “ Ouch ” they both groaned.

After Lance helped her pack her things they went together to pick up Ella.

“How did it go?” she asked him while walking.

“As well as it could I guess, they’re having a hard time accepting it” he shrugged. “How about you?”

“Better than expected actually, but they don’t like it ,” she answered. “They want to help look after Ella  though.”

“Yeah, my family as well, and Hunk texted earlier and said that his parents will disown him if us leaving means they won’t see Ella as much.” He let out a weak laugh .  “Guess we have to work out a schedule system before we leave.”

“Maybe so, but at least we know she won’t be alone .”

“ Yeah.”

\---

After getting home and eating dinner Lance and Pidge figured they couldn’t let it wait any longer.

They  knew that their daughter was only three years old, and probably  wouldn’t understand everything they  told her, but they had to prepare her anyways. So they sat down with her and explained that they were going away for a while, and that she would stay with her grandparents and tios and tias.

“When do you come back?”

“We don’t know, sweetheart, we hope we get back soon .”

“Why can’t I stay with Uncle Matt?”

“Because he’s coming with us .”

“Who else is going with you?”

“Uncle Shiro, Uncle Adam, Uncle Keith, Uncle Hunk, Tia Veronica, and some others from work.”

“ But why are you going?”

The conversation was pretty much on repeat, and Lance could see Pidge getting frustrated, even if it wasn’t at their daughter, probably more at herself. She wanted to be able to answer all the questions with certainty and reassure her that everything was going to be fine.

Lance suddenly lifted Ella in his arms and placed her on his hip while walking to the windows.

“Ella, do you remember what your name means?”

“Yeah! It means star! Right?!”  She looked up at her dad.

“Yeah, it does. And we named you that because you’re the most important thing in our lives. But the thing is, up there,” He pointed to the sky. “ There are billions of other stars, planets and people, and they need our help for a while. We don’t know when we get back, but we will try to be back as quickly as possible. Is that  alright with you?”

Ella looked between the stars at the night sky, her dad and her mom, and then she nodded. “ Yeah !”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, I decided to make Veronica a MFE pilot, because why not?


	4. The next blue paladin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt struggles with his connection to the Blue lion. We also have some McClain and Holt family fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by Smarmy_one!

“So, our priority until the launch is that we get Matt into the Blue lion, and that we get used to working as a team. The Garrison also told us that we had to go through health check ups and what not. All of you should’ve gotten a personal schedule at the beginning of this meeting, make sure to follow it.”

“yeah, yeah, that’s great Keith, but more importantly, we’re changing our suits and uniforms, so that all of us actually match our lions. They’re already placed in our lockers. Also Coran said that we will have our own part of the Atlas where our rooms and common areas will be in, so that we can do Voltron business in peace. We will be able to start moving our stuff into the atlas in a couple of days,” Lance continued where Keith left off.

  
  


\---

The paladins had decided that they would have a meeting each morning to see how everyone was doing, and to discuss their plans. Since they all had different tasks and focuses there would be some days where their schedules wouldn’t align unless they planned for it. To optimize their time they would focus on individual tasks during the first week, and then their teamwork the last week before take-off.

The first day of this schedule was mostly Matt trying to bond with the Blue lion while Pidge and Hunk helped him as well as they could. When the clock started to get closer to dinnertime and they still had not made any progress they decided to call it a day and try again tomorrow. 

The Holt siblings said goodbye to Hunk and went together to meet up with Veronica and Lance to go to the McClain’s house for the dinner get-together.

“I don’t know Pidge, maybe I’m not supposed to be a paladin?” Matt mumbled as they walked.

“Don’t be stupid, Shiro and Lance wouldn’t have told you that you were the new blue paladin if it weren’t true, you just need some time that’s all.” She punched him in the shoulder to make her statement get through to him.

“How much time? We don’t have much to waste after all.”

“As much as you need, don’t worry, the lions always pull through when we need them the most.”

The rest of the walk was mostly silent until they spotted Lance and Keith further down the hallway, and both siblings broke out in laughter.

“What the hell happened to you two?” Matt asked between fits of laughter.

“Shut up, it’s his fault!” the red and black paladin said in unison, which honestly made the whole thing funnier as they stood there glaring at each other with matching black eyes.

“Hahah, this dinner is going to be great, your mom is going to kill you!” 

Pidge wheezed. 

Lance just mumbled under his breath in reply.

\---

Dinner went late as it usually did when they were at the McClain’s. Ella had already fallen asleep in her Abuelo’s arms, content with sleeping surrounded by her family without caring or noticing all the noise. Pidge smiled as she watched the room full of people. Even after so many years she wasn’t used to the noise and energy in the McClain house, but she never once felt out of place here. This family had accepted her from the moment she stepped inside the door, they had also dragged her own family into this craziness, not that she complained.

Her parents were talking with Lance’s parents in hushed tones, as not to wake up Ella, while Lance and most of his siblings had mingled into the living room some time ago. Pidge moved into the living room and sat down with Luis, Lisa, Matt and Veronica around the coffee table. At the other end of the living room Silvio was sitting on the floor playing the guitar softly while Lance sat beside him helping him with the grips when he lost his place. Nadia was half asleep leaning against Lance’s shoulder. The scene made Pidge smile, Lance had always been good with children, and especially his niece and nephew, even if they were teenagers now and would protest loudly if anyone called them children.

Later when it was time to go home for the night Pidge hugged her mother-in-law and thanked her for the dinner and everything.

“Oh Mija, there’s nothing to thank me for, just please be safe out there, we can’t stand to lose you,” She said as she hugged Pidge.

“I will do my best,” Pidge answered while blinking away some tears before they began to form.

Pidge gathered Ella in her arms and put on her shoes and jacket as she waited for Lance to say goodnight to his family.

\---

A few days later Matt was alone with the blue lion, who still hadn’t lowered the particle barrier once for Matt. He had tried for hours alone, and with the help of Pidge and Hunk. He even asked Shiro and Coran if they had any advice for him, but nothing helped. About to give up for the day he let out a frustrated yell as he sat down at the floor glaring at the Lion.

“What do you want then? Am I not good enough for you? Did you change your mind about me?!” He yelled. 

“That’s not it.” 

Matt would deny it to the end of his day, but the truth is he did startle enough to jump and squeak like a broken toy. Slowly he turned around to look at the voice that had spoken.

“Lance? What are you doing here?”

“Figured I would check in,” Lance shrugged while leaning against the door.

“The Lion chooses the pilot, Mr. Holt.”

“Are you seriously quoting Harry Potter right now?”

Lance just grinned. 

“When we meet Allura and Coran, Allura explained to us how the bond between paladin and lion can’t be forced, and that the lions decide who becomes their paladins. The Black lion is the decisive head of Voltron, it will choose a pilot that is born a leader and is in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. The Green lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. The yellow lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one that puts other’s needs above his own. His heart must be mighty as a leg of Voltron the pilot

will lift the team up and keep it together. The red lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master, it’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable, its pilot needs to rely more on instinct than skill alone.”

  
  


“I know all that! Pidge and Hunk told me all of this, but they also said that she never explained about the blue lion because you were an idiot!”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Lance chuckled. “But the thing is, the lions and their paladins aren’t defined in one sentence about them, they grow together and create their own path. Both Keith and I have piloted two lions, and we’ve learned and experienced different qualities than the ones Allura

explained to us that first day. I’m sure Allura and Blue had a different bond than the one I had with Blue, and I’m sure yours will be different as well.”

“If there even is a bond,” Matt mumbled.

“There is, I’ve known you would eventually be the blue paladin since Hunk and I picked you up from that Galra ship, but that’s not really important now. The blue lion is the lion that forms bonds with her paladins the easiest, however I would argue it’s the most difficult lion to make a lasting bond with. She has had the most paladins out of all the lions, and she’s been left alone the most.”

“How does this help me?”

“You will have to find out the answer for that one yourself, but I will give you a hint. The Blue lion is the guardian spirit of water. Most can learn how to swim, but nobody can control the ocean.


	5. Countdown

8 days before take-off most of the paladins had done everything they could to prepare themselves individually. What remained now was to train as a team, but they were still waiting for the Blue lion and Matt to bond. Meanwhile the paladins were doing their health check-ups, discussing tactics for only the paladins, and also for cooperation with the atlas crew. On their spare time they were spending as much time as possible with their families. 

Lance was in a bad mood when he joined the rest of the paladins, minus Matt, for lunch that day.   
“what’s up buddy?” Hunk asked when Lance sat down.  
“Iverson is making me sign off on that my cadets are ready for combat flight” Lance mumbled.   
“Are they ready?”   
“no, they should have at least one more year of training”  
“well… nothing we can do, we’re looking at another war, we can’t afford to hold back our resources” Keith shot in.  
“I know that Mullet, doesn’t mean I have to like it. Oh, and I have to keep a lection tomorrow, about hostage situations, it’s first thing in the morning so it shouldn’t collide with our program.”   
“I don’t even have a mullet anymore” Keith said as he rolled his eyes. “But the lecture is a good idea, all of us should attend it.”

\--- 

Pidge and Lance walked together from lunch.  
“Hey, are you all right?” Pidge asked taking his hand.  
“Yeah… I’m fine, I just wish we didn’t have to send children up there again.”  
“They will be fine, they’re more prepared than we ever were”  
“yeah I know, and they will mostly be stationed on Earth as defence fighters anyways, I just can’t help but worry”  
“Don’t worry to much, they’ve had a great teacher after all” Pidge said as she squeezed his hand and grinned at him. Lance looked away a bit embarrassed.  
“oh well… let’s hope it’s-“ Lance suddenly stopped speaking and turned his head so fast that it was amazing that he didn’t get whiplash.  
“Lance..?” Pidge looked at him worriedly. But soon a huge grin took place in Lances face.   
“Come on Pidge, hurry!” He said as he started running, dragging her with him. While running he started speaking into his communicator. “Open the hangar doors, authorisation: PLHM 255,0,0.”  
Lance and Pidge went running through the halls of the garrison, or more like Lance were running dragging Pidge with him. He didn’t slow down before they reached the observation tower that looked over all of the Garrisons flight sites. Lance quickly opened the door by entering his keycode and then dragged Pidge with him inside. They reached the windows just in time to see the blue lion flying out of her hangar.   
“Blue? That means... he did it!” a huge grin formed on Pidges face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a really short chapter, but it was a natural place to stop. Only one or two more chapters before they leave earth.
> 
> Also I hope everyone is staying safe during this pandemic! My university is closed for the time being so hopefully I will have time to write a lot for you guys. 
> 
> On another note, if anyone want to beta read my chapters let me know, also if anyone knows spanish that would be really helpful for me in later chapters.


	6. How to survive capture 101

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! It took me a while to sort through my ideas for this part!   
> Be aware that from this moment on it will become more and more clear what and how much of cannon I have changed.

Stilas POV:

Stilas was seated together with his team in the biggest auditorium in the Garrison, the rest of his classmates for the last 4 years were also there, and the room were filled with a buzz from conversations. Stilas had also noticed several officers, pilots, crewmembers and scientist filling up the rows in the back, including most of the paladins and even Iverson. Their presence made him nervous, together with the sudden notice yesterday that their normal schedule was cancelled and that they were to report here first thing in the morning. 

The door on the ground floor of the auditorium opened, and in came their primary instructor, Captain Lance. The entire room became silent as everyone focused on the Captain as he jumped on one leg from the door to the middle of the floor. Stilas couldn’t help but stare at the man he had gotten to know very well over the four years he had been training as a cadet at the Garrison. It wasn’t often that they saw Lance without his prostetic, even if from the start their captain had always been open about the fact that he lost his leg mid-thigh and down during the war. Though nobody had ever been able to make him tell the story about how it happened. 

“Morning everyone, bet you thought you finally got rid off me eh?” Lance smiled as he looked over them, the cadets let out a small laugh. “All right, a few things before we start as I’m sure you’re very confused. In the back of the room there is a lot of officers and graduates, just ignore them they’re here for the same reason as you all are; to learn and to prepare.

As you all know, the Atlas will be launching in a week, and with it will most of earths fighting staff. That means that when we leave, you will be the ones defending earth back here. That is why we’re having this lecture today, it’s a lecture I’ve held a few times before with graduating classes, but this time we have no choice but to move it up a year.”

Silas couldn’t help but sit up straight while he was listening to Lance talk, during all their years at the Garrison Lance had been their primary instructor, that meant that they had the most classes and training sessions with him, and that he was responsible for their program. In the beginning Silas, and a lot of the other cadets, had been nervous around Lance, or Paladin McClain as they called him then. He was a Paladin after all, one of the heroes that freed earth and saved the universe. It didn’t take long before Lance had closed the distance to them thought, he made them call him by his first name, he took the time to get to know them and listen to them, and he treated them with respect, he generally just made them all feel seen and safe. Of course he was still strict with them, and he would tell them exactly how they messed up, and what consequences that could have if it wasn’t training, but they always knew he did it to make them prepared. 

They did not usually have lectures, more often they would have simulator training, or practical experiences. Those times when they had lectures Lance would often joke around and make it fun, this was the first time Silas had seen him start a lecture this serious, which spoke volumes of the situation at hand.

“I will be real with you, because you deserve that. We are at war, and right now we do not know who we’re fighting against, what they are doing, or what resources they have. Because of this we have to prepare for everything, and one of those things are that you most likely will have to fight to defend our home. I personally do not agree with the decision to send you out in battle, but I leave earth in 7 days, and when I do I also leave the responsibility for you in commander Iversons hands. 

I want to say this, I don’t think you are ready. There is a reason why we extended the training program to 5 years, and you still have one more year to go, but I know better than most that war doesn’t wait until we’re ready. That being said, you’re more prepared than most humans have been in the meeting of aliens and intergalactic warfare. Until you are called into action your training will continue and you will work more together in your teams than ever before. Before all that, I will have this one last lesson with you” Lance was now siting on top of the desk in the middle of the floor, his leg dangling in the air. The tension in the room was heavy, and Silas gulped as he stared at Lance. Suddenly everything felt more real.   
“Today we will talk about what to do if you get captured during war, and how to stay alive, any ideas?” Lance asked them.

\---

“The best thing is just to avoid being captured isn’t it?”   
“Well yes, but war isn’t so pretty that you can just choose what happens, usually when someone gets captured it’s because they couldn’t avoid it”   
“Wouldn’t capture mean death though?”  
“Not necessarily, after all every human that has been outside our galaxy has been captured at least once by aliens, and all of those people are alive inside this room right now.”  
“But how?”  
“Excellent question! You see, there are multiple answers to that. Let’s start with the first documented meeting between humans and the Galra Empire, aka the Kerberos mission where Captain Shirogane, Dr. Holt and Matthew Holt got captured.” Lance began. “Why was three humans, a small and seemingly useless rase in the eyes of the Empire, kept alive instead of killed at sight?”   
A murmur started up as the cadets started to discuss between themselves trying to find the correct answer. “What do you think Silas?” Hanna, one of his teammates, asked him.   
“I don’t know, this isn’t specified in any of the writings about the war, but knowing Lance it probably isn’t a textbook answer anyways..”   
“All right, anyone got any ideas?” Lance asked after a few minutes.   
“They made themselves valuable enough to keep around?” Elaine said from the other side of the room.   
“Correct! See, for the empire it was also their first meeting with humans, and as they were trying to control the entire universe they often took prisoners to learn about their species, use them as entertainment, or gain manpower. Captain Shirogane was able to stay valuable to them by fighting and winning in the arena, Dr. Holt were able to help them in science and technology camps, and Matthew Holt were in a workcamp until he was able to escape.”   
\---  
The lesson kept going where Lance told them about what to avoid, how to behave, and how to make the best of the situation if they ever did get captured. So far Lance had made a few main points, if you get captured make sure you’re valuable enough to keep alive. Once that is established decide if you’re going to talk or be silent, and once you decide stick to that until you’re rescued or you’re able to escape. By that he explained that if you talk you must keep track of your lies, and your truths at all times, and if you kept silent it meant you couldn’t say a single word. Another point was to know as much as possible about the alien species that had you as a prisoner, knowledge could help you seize opportunities.  
“but, the most important thing is to know what is your limit, what will make you give in and give them the information they want” Lance finished with a grave expression. “You see, everyone have at least one thing that they can’t bear losing, find out what is yours, and make sure you hide it from those that can use it against you.”

\---

“Lance, sir, is there a reason why you’re the one giving us this lesson?”   
“Ah well, I’ve got the most experience being captured by aliens, so the higher ups think I’m some sort of expert on it” Lance answered with a half laugh.  
“How many times were you captured then?”  
“Hm, twice by pirates, 11 times by the empire, where four of those times were by myself, and two times were with the entire team, so that’s 13 times.”   
“And a half!” A voice from the very back of the auditorium suddenly yelled out. Silas turned his head to see who it was, and could see that it was Officer Matt Holt who were standing together with the paladins in the back, a smirk on his face.  
“Ah, yes, 13 and a half times, as my dear brother-in-law reminded me”  
“How can you be captured a half time?”   
“Well, it was a diplomatic thing that went south, but we were only restricted because we were trying not to fight our way out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I decided to make up a cadet for this part to get a bit more outsider view of the part, please tell me if it worked or not!


	7. Mistakes of the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter!  
> Also here you will see som changes that I've done to the original timeline.
> 
> NB! WARNING!  
> There will be description of violent scenes, and mentions of bodyparts in this chapter, if this triggers you please don't read. 
> 
> There will also be mentioned some symptoms of PTSD.

Later that evening there was a huge strategic meeting with the entire Atlas crew, the paladins, the Garrison higher ups, and different leaders from the coalition. Veronica entered the meeting room about 15 minutes before it started. Most of the atlas crew and all of the paladins were there already. She walked towards her brother, who was seated on the floor, a bit to the side of the room, while entertaining his daughter.

  
“Trouble getting a sitter?” she asked as she sat down beside them. “Hi Ella!”

  
“Hi Tia Ronnie!” Estrella looked up from one of those brain teaser puzzles that she was working with for about a second before going back to solving her puzzle.

  
“Sort of, Rach were supposed to watch her, but she cancelled in the last second, Lisa is sending Silvio over to pick her up right now.” Lance answered her. Veronica furrowed her brows.

  
“Did something happen?”

  
“Nah, not really”

  
“Are you still fighting?”

  
“Sort of”

  
“Papa! I did it!” Their conversation was cut short by Ellas excited shout.

  
“You did! Amazing Ella! How did you do it? Can you show me?” Lance exclaimed.

  
Veronica smiled as she watched Ella explain Lance how to solve the puzzle. While they sat at the floor with Ella more and more people came into the room. A few minutes before the meeting was about to start there was a small knock on the door. Iverson, who were closest to the door opened it.

  
“What are you doing here, cadet?” He asked. Veronica and Lance looked over to the door, seeing one of Lances students standing there in salute, while Silvio was half hidden between him. Lance leaned towards Ella and whispered to her “Go and say goodnight to mommy, all right”. Ella nodded and rose to her feet before running off to find Pidge.

  
Lance and Veronica also rose to their feet, or foot in Lances case.

  
“uh, I’m looking for La- Captain Holt-McClain” the cadet answered Iverson.

  
Lance jumped towards the door to join them. “I’ve got it Iverson, at ease cadet.” He said as he reached the door. Iverson nodded and left them to it, while the cadet relaxed his pose.

  
“Sorry to bother you, but he said he was looking for you” the cadet said, looking at Lance while nodding towards Silvio.

  
“No problem, thank you for bringing him here Stilas.” Lance smiled. Just then Ella came running towards them and crashed into Lances leg.

  
“Goodnight Papa!” she said while hugging his leg. Lance smiled and lifted her up into his arms to give her a proper hug. “Goodnight sweetheart, be good to Tia Lisa, tio Luis and your cousins okay?”

  
“I will! Hola Silvio!” She said while reaching her hands towards her cousin. Silvio moved to catch her before she could launch herself from Lances hands.

  
“Hola Ella, you have to be more careful you know” He said as he caught here, Ella just laughed.

  
“Stilas, could you walk with them until they’re out of the base, so they don’t get lost?” Lance asked.

  
“Yes sir.” Stilas said as he saluted him once more.

  
Ella waved goodbye to everyone in the room as they left down the corridor. Lance closed the door and went to sit down next to Keith at the table just as the meeting started.

\---

“While do believe that the ones responsible for these events are someone new and not someone connected to the old empire, we in the blade still keep an eye on every commander and captain from the empire that still are alive. Most of them are not active anymore, but a few have shown signs of activity in the last couple of weeks. I will now present them for you.” Krolia stood at the end of the table as the representative of the Blade of Marmora. “We’re mostly worried about three of them, those are Commander Trivy, Commander Friez and Captain Glop. Trivy and Friez were both trusted commanders of Zarkon, and they were responsible for many of the prisoner camps in the empire-“

  
“Wait, Krolia did you say Captain Glop, are you sure about that?” Lance interrupted her.  
“Yes. We don’t know much about him, he wasn’t as high up during the war, but we have confirmed his identity.”

  
“You’re 100% sure?” Keith asked. Krolia nodded. Lance and Keith looked at eachother with deep frowns on their faces.

  
“That shouldn’t be possible, we killed him during the war.” Keith eventually said turning towards the other people around the room. Many people frowned.

  
“I can’t remember meeting anyone with that name?” Hunk said.

  
“You didn’t, he’s was the one who captured Lance and I on Toranty, we were stuck at his ship for about 4-5 week before we were able to escape.” Keith answered.

  
“Do you have any information about him? He has been difficult to pin down” Krolia asked. Keith nodded towards Lance.

  
“He was the captain of a small ship, and he isn’t really fully Galra so he wasn’t respected by the empire. He was born fully Galra, but he was small and weak compared to others. Because of this he was isolated by the other galra. This led to him trying to find different ways to get stronger. This led to him experimenting with quintessence from different species and merging it with himself. But he didn’t have the same understanding of quintessence as Haggar and the druids. Over time he changed over and over again until you wouldn’t believe he was born Galra, and he suddenly had abilities that belonged to very different species, but he couldn’t really control most of them. The one thing he could control is an ability who is unique for a few Leians I believe, and that was to read someone’s mind if they lied to him.” Lance explained. Multiple people gasped at this information.

  
“Why was this not reported to the coalition back then?!” One of the aliens asked.

  
“Because we thought we killed him and eliminated the threat” Keith answered.

  
“well, you apparently didn’t kill him well enough” James said.

  
Lance laid his hologram device on the table and activated it. A recording taken from Lances helmet years ago started playing. Everyone at the table could see how Keith and Lance moved to strike an weird looking alien at the same time. Lance shot twice at the alien, once hitting the neck making a big wound, and the last one shot went straight through its head, at the same time Keiths sword cut through the waist cutting the body in half. Afterwards they could see a very dead alien on the floor hacked into pieces.

  
“Would anyone here think that there was a chance he wasn’t dead?” Lance asked after the recording ended. “I assure you, the two of us had no desire to leave this one alive, he was to dangerous.”

  
“Even if you thought he was dead, a threat like this should still have been reported to the coalition!” the same alien as earlier said.

  
“This happened at a time when the tension within the coalition was strong, and the situation of the universe were unclear, at the time it would’ve done more damage to share this information, and since we believed we had taken care of the problem we didn’t see the need to put the coalition in that position.”

  
“The two of you decided on that on your own then?”

  
“We discussed it with Princess Allura, and then the three of us decided to not tell the coalition” Lance answered.

  
“Let’s not drag this discussion out any longer than needed and let’s just end it here. Lance, Keith, is there anything we need to know if we meet him again?” Shiro cut in before this could be a big argument.

  
“The obvious thing is not to lie to him, if you do he will have access to all your thoughts. That means that if you don’t answer 100% truthfully when he asks you something, he will have access to your mind. The best strategy is not to answer him at all.” Lance said.

  
“I agree, if anyone meets him just don’t say anything to him, and if possible, let Lance handle him.” Keith added.

  
\---

After the meeting Veronica stayed behind while most left. After a while it was only the paladins, Shiro and herself that was left behind. Veronica had slowly learned to know her baby brother all over again when he returned from earth. To begin with it the relief of seeing him alive and home had overshadowed all the scars he was carrying, both the physical and the psychological ones, but after a while she had realised that the brother who returned to her was not the same one that had left. Once upon a time Lance would be running after her yelling about space, and stars, and exploring with eyes sparkling just as much as the stars he wanted to explore. When Veronica had been accepted into the Garrison he had looked at her in awe and told her seriously that one day he would be just like her. Those moments felt like they were lifetimes away nowadays. Her brother had long since surpassed her both as a soldier and as a pilot and diplomat, he had seen more of space than most humans ever would, and he had fought and won a war to save the entire universe, with no regard of his own safety, and now he was ready to do it again.

  
Veronica turned to look at the paladins, and her brother. Lance was still sitting in his chair, when the door closed behind Griffin, who was the last to leave, Lances hands had started shaking and he was clenching tightly to try to stop it.

  
“Lance..” Keith carefully said.

  
“Give me a minute.” He answered. Keith nodded and turned towards the others still in the room.

  
“What happened exactly?” Shiro asked Keith.

  
“oh, this is from right after Shiro disappeared isn’t it… When you went flying around randomly in space looking for him, and eventually Lance followed you to get you back.” Pidge said looking at Keith.

  
“Yeah, that’s why we got captured. Lance eventually caught up with me on the planet Toranty… and we basically beat each other up because we couldn’t agree on what to do from there…” Keith looked really uncomfortable. “When we were exhausted and already beat the cruiser showed up capturing both us and blue and red. Later when I woke up, Glop had already broken Lance.”

  
“What?!”

  
“we told you right, he can read your mind if you lie to him, and it means any lie, if he asks you what your name is and you answer by saying that you won’t tell him you’ve already lied. That’s all he needs to be able to see your thoughts, memories and whatever else he wants to. It didn’t end there thought, we have a lot of information about him because Lance eventually was able to figure out what his trick was. Because of that Lance also managed to keep me out of harms way. For all those days where we were captured it was a mind game between the two of them, where at the end of it Lance was able to get more information out of him than the other way around, but..”

  
“When the price for that was getting mind raped, it wasn’t really worth it. In addition, now that we know he’s alive we have to make sure that he can’t use whatever he gathered from me against us” Lance said, finally looking up from his hands.

  
“Why didn’t you tell us..?” Hunk asked.

  
“well.. We weren’t much of a team at that time, but really we did talk to Allura, just… Glop was one of the Captains that worked under Lotor, and at the time Allura wanted to trust Lotor and didn’t really want to listen, and after we realised Lotor wasn’t trustworthy we didn’t think it was worth it to mention Glop again.” Lance shrugged.

  
“Listen, we’re sorry for not saying anything, but we really thought it was done and over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's all for this chapter haha. 
> 
> Next chapter will be the last one before take off, hopefully.


	8. Last day on Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read A/N at the end of the chapter!

The last week before take-off the paladins mostly focused on team bonding with and without the lions. They also got the chance to move their things into the atlas and make it ready for them. Eventually all the preparations were complete, and the day were here. Every member of the Atlas crew, and the paladins were gathered at the launch site together with their families to say goodbye. 

“Please take care of each other and come back safe” Hunks mom said as she hugged Lance tightly. 

“We will do our best, Auntie” Lance hugged her back just as tightly. 

“I’m so happy that you will be there with him, you’ve always been a brother to Hunk” Hunks dad said as he too joined the hug. Lance felt his eyes began to fill with water as he hugged them back. 

“He’s my brother too, best brother one can ask for, but please don’t tell my other brothers I said that” Lance said as the hug ended. In the corner of his eyes he could see that Hunk was surrounded by Lances family, no doubt getting a similar goodbye from them. 

The Garrets then moved from Lance and towards Keith, and Lance had to stop himself from laughing at the confusion in Keiths face as they neared him. All the paladin’s families had become close after the war, but still Keith sometimes found it weird that they cared about him. Before Lance could decide if we should walk over to rescue his friend or not, he was interrupted by Colleen and Samuel Holt. All signs of smiles disappeared from Lances’ face when he saw his parents-in-law, or rather the seriousness and pain that shone through their faces. Of all the relatives staying on earth Colleen and Sam had the best grasp on the horrors their children would face once they left Earth. 

“Last time I was right here, I wished my husband and son good luck on their mission, a mission that was classified as a exploration and should’ve been relatively safe. It took years before they came back, and in the meantime, I got told that they died, and then my daughter went missing as well. This time we know it’s dangerous, and even so even more of my family is leaving. I know neither of you can promise to come back, but I beg you to try your best. You’re our family too Lance.” 

“I... Thank you, Colleen”

\---

At some point during the goodbyes Pidge had come over and planted Ella in Lances arms, he knew then that they were almost out of time. He held his daughter tightly as he moved over to his family. The goodbye was long, and tearful. Lance made sure to talk to each one of his family members. When Iverson announced that the civilians had to leave the platform in 15 minutes Pidge joined Lance at his side. Together they hugged, kissed and whispered goodbyes to their daughter.   
“Just remember that we love you Estrella, forever and always.” 

\--- 

Eventually the civilians left the platform, and the crew started boarding the Atlas. Well, almost all of the crew. The paladins and Veronica were still lingering on the platform. Pidge sat at the floor typing away on her computer with Matt looking over her shoulder. Keith and Hunk were closer to the ramp, but neither moved to walk inside the Atlas. Veronica and Lance stood together, the furthers from the Atlas and closer to the entryway of the launch site. 

“What are you guys doing? We have to board the Atlas!” James Griffin showed up at the top of the ramp into the Atlas.

“We will be there soon” Keith answered.

“This isn’t a suggestion, you can’t do whatever you want just because you’re paladins, we have to prepare to take-off.”

“Ah relax a bit will you, take a last look at Earth, you won’t see it in a long time Griffin.” Matt said.

“What are we even waiting for?”

“Lance and Veronicas sister didn’t make it to the official goodbye time, so we’re waiting for her to show up” Pidge answered. 

“What? We can’t hold up an entire operation just because of one person!” James said.

“I’m not leaving without saying goodbye this time, so either we wait a few more minutes, or you unload the red lion here so we can catch up with you. Thought by the time you figure out how to get close enough to the red lion to be able to do that we would already be done and boarded.” Lance smirked as his gaze meet James’.

“She’s here!” Pidge said as she hacked into the network to open the doors. Rachel came running through the doors and straight for her siblings. She wrapped her arms around them both and hugged them tightly.

“I’m so sorry! I’m being stupid” She said while crying. “I just can’t handle losing either of you”  
Lance and Veronica hugged her back. “We know”

“Why was she even late?” James asked.   
“She and Lance have been fighting ever since she learned that we were leaving” Pidge answered.   
“huh?”  
“ah, it’s really normal for those two, you could probably make a timeline of both their lives by just describing their arguments.” Hunk said. 

\---

After Lance, Rachel and Veronica got to say goodbye everyone boarded the Atlas and went to their stations. Soon after the countdown started, and the Atlas left earth, without knowing when or if it would return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo! They've finally left Earth! 
> 
> Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, I've been swamped with school work. I will also take a break for about a month before I post anything more. The reason is that I have exams every week for the next month and I have to study for them without distractions.


	9. Travelling through the Milky Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suprise chapter! 
> 
> I'm in the middle of exams, and should really be studying for my next one, but I just couldn't stop thinking about this part of the story. 
> 
> Also sorry for not being active in the comments lately, I read all of them, and they mean so much to me, and I will reply to them when the stress dies down a bit! Thanks for your continued support!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

While traveling through the Milky Way they still had a direct signal to earth, meaning they could broadcast and through the same channels. Someone put on a news channel that covered their departure. 

“So there we have it everyone, the Atlas has left earth safely with our strongest heroes onboard.” A reporter said as the camera captured the last sights of the Atlas disappearing in the sky. “We all wish them good luck and give them our thanks. We would take this moment to switch to a closed interview with some of the heroes that left today, the interview was taken a couple of days ago.”

The scene changed to inside one of the conference rooms in the Garrison. Inside the room there was a group of reporters, cameras and sound people from different companies. At the far end of the room there was a long table with mics set up, and empty chairs.

Iverson stood at the end of the table with a mic in front off him. “If we’re all ready, I would like to get this started” He spoke into the mic. A murmur of agreements came from the press. Iverson cleared his throat. “Then I declare this press conference from started, and I would like to invite our panel to the stage. James Griffin, Adam Wright, Shirogane Takashi, Keith Kogane and Lance Holt-McClain. If you’d please”

As they were called they walked inside the room and sat down at their assigned seats at the table. They were all wearing their Garrison uniforms, though Keith and Lance were wearing their specialized ones to represent their lions. 

By now most of the Atlas crew were watching the screen. “it looks like you got a stick up your ass Keith” Pidge smirked as she looked at the Keith on screen.

“Katie, language!” Shiro said at the same time as Keith answered, “Shut up, you didn’t have to be up there, Pidge!”

“Shut up, it’s starting” Hunk said to stop the bickering.

“Captain Shirogane, what can you tell us about the threat we’re facing, and what you and the Atlas will do to defeat it.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t know much at this moment, but the Atlas crew is well prepared and equipped to handle most scenarios. We also have great allies in both Voltron and the Intergalactic coalition, and I believe we can fight this together.” Shiro answered the question with what the paladins used to refer to as the ‘inspirational-voice’. 

“Captain Griffin and Captain Wright, I believe you will both be leading your own specialised pilot teams, but this is the first time you will be fighting outside of our own galaxy, how do you look at that challenge?”

“Personally I believe that will be fine, my team and I have been preparing for this since Earth got invaded and ever since. As Captain Shirogane said we don’t know much about what’s waiting for us this time, but that makes it more important to stay mobile and have a foundation in communication between the units” Adam answered. 

“Thank you, and captain Griffin, do you agree?” 

“Yes, I do agree with Captain Wright, I also believe it might be an advantage that we have a fresh point of view on intergalactic warfare, as the paladins might have gotten used to fighting one species alone” James answered.

“Ooh, any comments on that paladins?” the reporter asked.

Keith opened his mouth to answer but closed it just as fast with a grimace. Lance smiled all innocently at his side.

“We in Voltron appreciate the new inputs of course, and we look forward to share our own knowledge and experience to work together and find the best way to end this threat to our universe.” Lance answered with his most charming smile. 

“I owe you one for that you know” Keith growled in Lances direction as they watched the screen.  
“I agree, that was a pretty nice save, but it’s all right mullet, I don’t need a gift” Lance grinned back.  
“That’s not what I meant!” Keith said as the other paladins chuckled. 

“Another question for the Paladins, who is the next blue paladin?”

“we won’t be giving out the identity of the new blue paladin” Keith answered.

“But we can confirm that we have found a blue paladin, and that we all believe it’s a good fit.” Lance continued.

\---

“This goes to the paladins, what do you think will be different this time around than the last war?”

“oh, well, I hope for a smoother departure from earth, that’s for sure” Lance answered with a chuckle. On his left Keith struggled not to laugh at the memory, while Shiro at his left again couldn’t help it but let out a chuckle.

“God Damn it Shiro!” Matt turned from the screen to look at his best friend in utter disbelief.   
“What?” Shiro asked in confusion.  
“hahah, pay up Matt!” Lance yelled from the other side of the room. Matt grumbled as he tossed a chocolate bar over the room at his brother-in-law.  
“wait? Did you bet on me?!” Shiro asked.   
“Yeah, Matt bet that I couldn’t get you to laugh on TV” Lance grinned as he put away his price. 

At the screen the conference was about to end part from some last-minute questions. 

“Red Paladin—” the screen suddenly got blurred and the sound interrupted so it was impossible to hear or see what happened at the screen. Just as sudden the screen cleared back to the conference room where everyone at the panel had a strained smile, but most of all were Lance.

“We won’t answer any questions regarding that, and I ask on behalf of myself and the green paladin that you respect our privacy.” Lance said in a tone that left no room to discussion.

“Respect our privacy my ass, they don’t respect shit” Pidge muttered hateful at the screen as the conference ended. 

“It’s all right Pidge, this question was interrupted in every way, there is no recording of it anywhere” Lance said. 

“Still! It’s stupid that they even asked it! Don’t they know the risk of it?”

“Of course they don’t, they don’t know the type of war we’re entering.” 

\---

As the Atlas moved through the milky way the different parts of the crew got started on their tasks and the like. After the conference ended there wasn’t much for them to broadcast from earth anyways. The paladins stayed in the control room with Shiro and some other officers thought. Just when they were in the outrights of the galaxy they received a call.

The screen came to life to show a face unfamiliar to most in the room. 

“Greetings” The alien said as she looked around the room, her eyes finally stopped when she found Lance and Hunk. “Paladin Lance, Paladin Hunk” she nodded her heads to them.

“Queen Luxia” Hunk and Lance answered as they too nodded their heads in greeting. 

“It’s good to see you, but I must admit this is not a social call. I have to ask for your help once more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we weren't completely done with earth in the last chapter, hehe. 
> 
> and yes, Keith and Pidge both hate public speaking and diplomatic work, unfourtunately for Keith he has to take part in them because he is the leader of Voltron, it's a good thing Lance is there to babysit him though! 
> 
> What do you think the sensored question was about?


	10. To the frozen waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this took so long to post! I've been busy with exams, and then I started working right after. It's taken me a while to get into a rutine, but hopefully I've gotten that down now!

After the call from Queen Luxia the paladins had a team meeting. They agreed that it wouldn’t do much good to take all the lions to the underwater planet, but sending just Matt and Blue on their own wasn’t a good idea either. Especially since last time they sent just one lion to aid the merpeople they ended up without two paladins for months. They decided that Matt and Lance would go with their lions, but Lance would hide Red close to the planet and he and Matt would enter the planet together in Blue.

  
“Since we’re splitting up anyways, I want to go to Olkarion and talk with Ryner and the others. They might have information or something we could use to figure out what’s happening.” Pidge spoke up.

  
“Yeah, that’s a good idea, I’ll come with you. I’ve wanted to discuss some upgrade ideas with them anyways.” Hunk said.

  
“Alright, sounds good. I will stay here then, in case anything happens” Keith said.

\---

The meeting adjured and they each went to prepare to leave. Lance and Pidge entered their shared room together and started changing into their armours and packing some things they might need. Lance could see that Pidge was still a bit angry about the reporter from the broadcast as her shoulders were tense and she was packing a bit more aggressively than needed.

“Pidge. Don’t worry, the question was automatically censored, there won’t be any recordings off it anywhere. You made sure of that” he finally said.

“I know that! But it doesn’t make me any less worried!” she yelled back at him.

“I know”

“Why would the ask about our daughter on an intergalactic broadcast?! Don’t they understand that if our enemy, whoever that is, can use that against us if they ever find out?”

“You know they don’t think about that, reporters are never going to understand why we keep our life private.”

“yeah... I know. I’m sorry for yelling at you, you handled it very well, I just- I don’t know how to balance the publicity and whatnot. And it’s terrifying being out here while she’s back home, and I can’t protect her”

“It’s all right, I know” Lance kissed her on top of the head. “but she’s as safe as she’s going to get right now, and we are protecting her by defeating whatever this new threat is”.

The silently went back to packing their bags.

“You’ll be careful, right?” Pidge asked quietly. Lance looked at her. She wasn’t looking at him, but were instead pretending to pack her own bag.

“Katie” Lance said softly and took her hand in his. He waited until she was looking at him before speaking. “I’ll be as careful as I can, and do whatever I can to come back. You know that” He said while looking her in the eyes. She nodded.

“I know… I just – forget it.” She smiled a bit at him. He smiled back and bent down and kissed her cheek. “Te amo” he whispered. “You be careful too, all right? And say hi to Ryner for me will you?”

“Yeah I will, and no flirting with the mermaids this time” Pidge smirked at him.

“How dare you!” Lance gasped in mock offence. “The disrespect, how could you even think I would do something like that when I’m married to the most amazing person in this entire universe?”

Pidge laughed at him, but he didn’t miss the light blush that spread over her face.

\---

A few minutes later they meet up with Hunk and Matt in the hangars. Some final goodbyes were said before the four of them climbed into their lions and shot off to different sides of the universe. Matt and Lance kept their coms open during the flight and Lance were telling Matt about the merfolks.

“So what happened last time you went there?” Matt asked.

“Well, the first time we went it was me and Hunk, we crash landed there when the wormhole malfunctioned and yeah. It was a whole adventure with mind control etc. etc., but we eventually got it sorted out and were able to leave. Some time later, when Shiro was still missing, we got a call from them asking for help. Hunk and I went then too, since we knew them, and we only took Blue because she’s the only lion that can really move in the water. And well, it was a trap. We got separated from the castle and-.” Lance stops here and gives Matt a small smile.

“ahh, this is when you found me?”

“yeah, so all in all, it ended great” Lance grinned. Matt smiled back, but it was a bit forced as he couldn’t keep the quilt off his face.

“Stop with that, it was ages ago, and I’m fine.” Lance said sternly.

\---

It took them a while to reach the right galaxy, since they didn’t have access to the wormholes anymore.

When they eventually got close enough to see the frozen planet Lance landed Red on one of the moons that were close to the planet. He then jetpacked over to Blue and entered the cockpit. Matt was about to pilot them to the surface of the planet when the control panel started to glow.

“What’s happening?” Matt asked in wonder.

“I think blue is trying to tell you something” Lance said with a smile. Matt was silent as he listened to the blue lion, or more like felt her presence in his mind. Suddenly Matt were moving and then the sonic cannon was formed on Blues back.

“Wow, awesome!” Matt said as he activated the cannon and used it to scan the area. The readings showed up on the screen in front of him.  
The two paladins read through the report, and once they were done another one popped up beside it. This one was dated years ago, when Lance had been the blue paladin. Comparing the scans made them see that also this galaxy had lost planets, luckily enough the frozen planet was the only inhabited planet here, and that one was still here.

“This might be what they’re concerned about” Matt said.

“Maybe, let’s go down and talk to them” Lance answered. Matt nodded and piloted down to the surface of the planet. He scanned the planet to find a weak spot in the ice where they could break through. Once they were in the water Matt followed the map on screen towards the city.

“Wow, Blue really are faster and smoother in water than in space, this is so cool!” He grinned. Lance only laughed with him.

“Stop down here, looks like they’ve sent someone to meet us.” Lance said as they got closer to the city. In the shadows of the sea they could see a mermaid waiting for them. Matt parked Blue at the seafloor, and he and Lance swam out of the lion.

They didn’t come far before the mermaid from earlier suddenly had embraced Lance in a hug.

“Lance! It’s so good to see you again!” She said while hugging him.

“Good to see you too Plaxum, it’s been a while” Lance laughed and hugged her back.

When they broke apart Plaxum turned towards Matt with curious eyes.

“This is Matt Holt, he’s the new blue paladin, Matt this is Plaxum” Lance introduced them.

“It’s nice to meet you!” Plaxum exclaimed.

“The pleasure is all mine, miss” Matt said and took her hand to kiss it, forgetting that he was wearing his helmet so that he could breathe underwater.

Plaxum laughed “I can see that he’s the blue paladin alright” both paladins grumbled at that.

\---

The three of them swam into the city and towards the castle. Lance and Plaxum spent most of the trip catching up.

“So Hunks not coming this time?” She asked

“no, he’s on a different mission with Pidge”

“Oh! Right! Congrats on your marriage! I wanted to come, but it’s a bit difficult to find a ship travelling across the entire universe, that is also filled with water.

“Thank you, and don’t worry about it, we understand” Lance smiled. “I heard you got married too? Congratulations”

“Thank you! Blum told you?”

“Yeah”

“It’s been great, but since we’re both in the guard now we’ve been busy as well. Though we’re not as busy as Swirn,, we barely see her anymore.” Plaxum said as they got to the castle doors. “Oh well, we’re here!”

The two guards at the doors looked at the three of them and then opened the doors for them, and they entered. Inside they were greeted by a room filled with merpeople, and in the middle of it were Queen Luxia, and beside her was Swirn.

“Paladins, welcome, it’s good to see you!” Queen Luxia said as she swam towards them. “Thank you for bringing them here Captain Plaxum.” Plaxum smiled and bowed her head before retreating back to the rest of the guards.

Matt and Lance greeted the queen, and Lance once again introduced Matt as the blue paladin. They talked for a bit before the queen announced that they would have a banquet later that evening to greet their guests. After that Lance and Matt were escorted into a smaller room with Queen Luxia, followed by Swirn, Plaxum and Blum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the most exciting ending this time, but some more hints about how I've changed the original timeline are present.   
>  See you next time!


	11. Return to the Atlas

Matt and Lance spent one week at the mermaid planet, most of the week were spent in meetings with the queen and her advisors, but also meetings with the people and different professions. They also had a grand banquet the first day to welcome the paladins, and further strengthen the bonds between the merpeople and voltron. 

As they thought the main concern that queen Luxia had was that their sensors had gathered that planets in their galaxy suddenly disappeared. Luckily the merplanet was the only planet that had life in the galaxy, so so far no lives was lost. Still, like so many other reports from around the universe, there was no signs of what made whole planets disappear overnight. Even with Blues sonar scanner they couldn’t get any readings that explained what had happened. 

  
  


“We will take the readings and scans back to the Atlas, and cross reference them with the coalition, then we will let you know when we figure something out.” Matt said as he was shaking hands with Queen Luxia. “We’re sorry we can’t give you any more reasurances than that at this point, but keep in touch and call us if anything happens.”

“Thank you Matt, we appreciate that you paladins still extend your hand to help us after everything we’ve done. We do owe our freedom to Hunk and especially Lance, but we repaid them by betraying their trust once, we won’t let it happen again.” guilt and determination colored the queens face. 

“You should know they don’t blame you for that, they know very well what the price of standing against the empire was, but I’m happy to hear that it won’t happen again” Matt smiled reassuringly at her. 

\---

The rest of the goodbyes went swimmingly, pun intended, and soon enough Plaxum escorted the paladins out of the city again. 

“It’s been a blast to meet you Matt! Take care both of you! and Lance, bring Pidge here next time, I’ve gotta meet her!” Plaxum said as she waved them off.

“Take care you too!” Matt yelled back as he swam into the blue lion.

“hmm, we’ll see if I can convince her! See you later Plax!” Lance yelled and followed Matt inside. Soon after the blue lion came to life and swiftly swam towards the surface.

  
  


\---

  
  


They were about half way back to the Atlas when they received an incoming call. When they both accepted their screens were filled with a videofeed of the Atlas’ control room, with Keith in the foreground. 

“Keith buddy! Miss us?” Lance said.

“Not really, with the two of you gone it’s actually silent enough to get some work done here” Keith deadpanned. Lance stuck his tongue out at him. 

“How far out are you two?” Keith asked.

“About halfway, we should be back in a couple of days.” Matt answered.

“Mmm, good, but Lance, I need you to change course and meet Kolivan at a blade station nearby, they need some help with an short mission.” Just as Keith said that a set of coordinates got transferred to the red lion. Lance looked at them and put them into his navigation system. 

“hm, aren’t these almost as close to us as they are to you guys? Why aren’t you going yourself?” Lance asked.

“I figured it was a mission better suited for you.” 

Lance looked up from his map and studied Keiths face, a taunting smirk grew on Lances face as Keith looked more and more uncomfortable with the scrutiny. 

“Don’t tell me..”

“Shut up”

Lance laughed “Alright mullet, I’ll take care of this, but you sooner or later you’ll have to face him”

  
  


\---

After Keith briefed Lance about what he knew about the mission they ended the call. 

“So, what was that about?” Matt asked. 

“Keith got a crush, but I’m not allowed to say anything more than that” Lance laughed. “Well, I’m off then, be careful on your way back, and say hi to everyone for me” 

With that the Red lion shot off in a different direction than the Blue lion. 

\---

By the time the mission with the blades ended, Lance had been away from the atlas for almost three months in total. The mission was successful, without any losses on their side. Still it had been a long one, where caution and awareness had been important.

When Lance arrived at the blade station he had met with Kolivan who gave him the details of the mission. He, together with a small team, was to check up on some new found intel about Tyrian, one of the remaining commanders from the empire. If they got the chance they were to eliminate him. Lances job was mostly to be lookout and to keep the team safe from an vantage point. 

It turns out that Tyrian had used the last couple of years to upgrade his base to a fortress, and a good one at that. It took them weeks just to get into the base without getting seen, and after that it took even longer to find the commander. 

All in all they managed to both get access to all the data in the base, and eliminate Tyrian. Even better, except for a cut in his upper arm, Lance got out of it without any injuries, which is a win in his book. After returning to the Blades base to brief Kolivan about the mission he was on his way back to the Atlas again, but this time with two passengers. 

  
  


\---

  
  


Pidge walked into the Paladins lounge while still typing on her tablet. “Hunk, thanks for bringing me dinner earlier, I lost track of ti…” as she looks up from her tablet she also stops talking. 

In one of the couches sits Hunk, as expected, but leaning his back on Hunks side, with his leg stretched out over the rest of the couch, and his prosthetic laying on the floor is..

“Lance!” Pidge grins “When did you come back? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Hey! I came back two hours ago, and I did tell you I was back when I brought you a plate of dinner” Lance grins at her.

Pidge looks confused for a bit.

_ \-- One hour earlier -- _

_ Lance had just managed to brief Keith and Shiro, somehow get through the mess that Pidge had made of their room without injuring himself to take a shower and change his clothes, before he walked to Pidges labb with a plate of dinner in his hands. He opened the door and walked in. _

_ “Hey Pidgotto, Hunk said you missed dinner so I brought you a plate” he said. Pidge barely noticed that anyone walked in, way to into whatever project she was working on.  _

_ “Great, thanks, just put it down there” she mumbled without looking up.  _

_ “Okay, remember to eat, I’ll be in the lounge when you’re done” Lance put the plate down on an empty spot and walked out again. He knew that there was no way to get her attention when she was this into a project. _

_ \-- _ Present time --

“Ah! That was you!” Pidge suddenly remembered, then “oh! Our room is a mess, sorry”

Lance laughed, “no worries, I noticed when I risked my life to get to the shower.” 

“ho ho, drama queen, it’s not that bad” Pidge walked over to the couch and lifted Lances leg so that she could sit down, afterwards she placed the leg back in her lap.

“Sorry Pidge, I hate to agree with Lance, but your messiness is a health hazard when it’s left unchecked” Hunk piped up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, that's it for now! 
> 
> Who do you think Keith has a crush on? and who are the two guests that Lance brings back? 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
